Connecticut makes a good MOVE, the act to help overseas military vote…NY Senate passes law making voter suppression punishable as a misdemeanor…Texas Co Commissioner pleads in absentee ballot fraud case…The DISCLOSE Act, a major campaign finance reform passes congress…Doe v Reed settled, U.S. Supreme Court Says, Usually, States are Free to Release Names and Addresses of Petition Signers for Public Viewing…Why can’t I vote at my ATM? Hansard Society Debate…US Post Office has special mailing envelope for military Absentee ballots..
All this and more in today’s voting news below…
AL: DA concludes no vote fraud in Autauga County
http://www.montgomeryadvertiser.com/article/20100623/NEWS01/6230347/DA-concludes-no-vote-fraud-in-Autauga-County
CA: Grand jury calls for 100% mail-in voting
http://www.ukiahdailyjournal.com/ci_15364954
Better proof-reading, replacing polls with mail-in ballots countywide and more use of the county website are among the 2010 grand jury’s recommendations for the Mendocino County Registrar of Voters Office.
CA: Final election results certified *
http://napavalleyregister.com/news/local/article_4c70d8f6-7ef0-11df-8b34-001cc4c002e0.html
The Napa County Election Division certified results Wednesday for the June 8 primary election, officially launching Napa County Supervisor Diane Dillon into a November runoff against challenger Jeff Parady for the Upvalley District 3 seat
…
Tuteur said the elections office discovered during the certification process that 1,100 ballots from polling places in and around the city of Napa were counted twice in the last unofficial report released on election night.
CA: Electronic voting machine whistleblower now running for Congress in California
http://www.thomhartmann.com/forum/2010/06/electronic-voting-machine-whistleblower-now-running-congress-california
CT: Connecticut makes a good MOVE
http://www.ctvoterscount.org/?p=3286
…the Connecticut Legislature passed a bill (p. 47) to provide faster absentee ballots and more convenient procedures for military and overseas voters, in compliance with the Federal Military and Overseas Voter Empowerment (MOVE) Act.
…
Along with Secretary Bysiewicz, we applaud the Legislature’s prudent choice to avoid risky Internet, fax, and email voting schemes.
CT: Secretary Bysiewicz praises enactment of measure to improve military voting
http://www.shorelineplus.com/shplus/information/news/politics/Secretary-Bysiewicz-praises-enactment-of-measure-to-improve-military-voting891789178917.shtml
Guam: Separate party ballots suggested
http://www.guampdn.com/article/20100624/NEWS01/6240309/Separate-party-ballots-suggested A Republican gubernatorial team has proposed that separate ballots be used for each political party in the upcoming primary election to prevent the continual problem of crossover voting.
MD: Maryland: State elections board dissolved Independent party
http://www.fredericknewspost.com/sections/news/display.htm?StoryID=106538
MO: Trust-us elections (corrected link)
http://www.stltoday.com/news/opinion/article_0ef48e72-be15-5678-a727-af6d1b028631.html
However, since the purchase of direct-record touch-screen voting machines (called DREs)
in 2006, these efforts at making elections transparent — and election results thereby believable — have been nullified.
NC: Missing key delayed Senate runoff returns in Craven
http://www.enctoday.com/news/missing-88485-nbsj-key-craven.html
The card containing electronic results could have been driven to the main elections office in New Bern, but “we don’t leave marked ballots,” Burridge said.
[they protected the ballots]
NC: Marshall wins Democratic Senate runoff, voter turnout ‘miserable’ in Gaston
http://www.gastongazette.com/news/style-48459-0in-marshall.html (optical scan)
An electric overload temporarily shut off a voting machine in Mount Holly, but Tuesday’s subterranean turnout meant no voters had to wait until the power was restored to see their ballots counted.
The Tuckaseegee Community Center, which is the polling place for the Mount Holly No. 1 precinct, dimmed Tuesday morning. No one was voting during the brief blackout, and poll workers turned off unnecessary lights and unplugged electronics to conserve power, said Pinion.
NY: New act fights voter intimidation tactics
http://www.hvpress.net/news/126/ARTICLE/9230/2010-06-23.html
Senator Andrea Stewart-Cousins (35th District –D/WF) announced passage of legislation in the Senate (S2554-B) making voter suppression punishable as a misdemeanor.
NY: New Voting Machines to Get Test Run on Upper West Side
http://www.dnainfo.com/20100624/upper-west-side/new-voting-machines-get-test-run-on-upper-west-side After years of delay in New York, new voting machines will be unveiled and tested tonight on the Upper West Side.
SC: S.C. voting machines use outdated technology
http://www.independentmail.com/news/2010/jun/24/sc-voting-machines-use-outdated-technology/ The voting machines used in South Carolina are widely discredited, outdated technology and produce unverifiable results.
SC: Election Commission investigating possible case of voter fraud in Dillon*
http://www2.scnow.com/scp/news/local/pee_dee/article/dillon_county_sheriffs_
office_investigating_possible_case_of_voter_fraud/199768/
http://is.gd/d2Ooi (absentee ballot fraud)
DILLON — A possible case of voter fraud has been forwarded to the Election Commission after a resident said someone fraudulently filled out an absentee ballot for her, according to Cliff Arnette with Dillon County Sheriff’s Office.
TN: Election Commission begins verifying new voter registrations (Dyer County)
http://www.stategazette.com/story/1644595.html
Heathcott last week to begin the task of checking all voter registrations collected in Dyer County since the passing of a new law this spring. State legislators responsible for the bill say it is aimed to protect the rights of voters.
…
“This bill says that no one in this state can question your right to vote unless you die, move, change your name, or commit a felony,” said Odom in a press release issued from his office. “When you receive your voter card, no one can take it away.”
“Under the bill, each county election commission in Tennessee will be required to conduct inspections of newly-submitted voter registration forms at least four times each year,” reads a press release from Secretary of State Tre Hargett’s office on the subject. “Two election commissioners from each county – one Republican and one Democrat – will check the forms for deficiencies.”
TX: Starr county commissioner convicted on voter fraud charges
http://www.themonitor.com/articles/fraud-40148-charges-grande.html
fRIO GRANDE CITY — Starr County Commissioner Raul “Roy” Peña Jr. was sentenced Tuesday to six months’ probation and a $500 fine for violating state election law during this year’s Democratic primary.
The elected official pleaded “no contest” to one count of illegally returning a marked ballot and one count of improperly mailing another voter’s ballot, stemming from allegations he helped stuff ballot boxes with fraudulent mail-in votes.
TX: Texas County Commissioner Pleads In Voter Fraud Case
http://www.kwtx.com/centraltexasvotes/stateheadlines/97082049.html
Pena pleaded no contest to illegally returning a marked ballot and to improperly mailing another voter’s ballot.
Pena, who wasn’t up for re-election in the March primary, drew scrutiny on Feb. 26 when he arrived at a Rio Grande City post office with 56 mail-in ballots
TX: In fighting voter ID’s, Democrats take on tough task
http://www.dallasnews.com/sharedcontent/dws/news/texassouthwest/stories/DN-voterid_24tex.ART.State.Edition1.2999123.html
TX: Lubbock County Elections office needs your input on voting locations
http://www.kcbd.com/Global/story.asp?S=12689313 When the November election comes around, voters in Lubbock County will be using super precincts.
VA: Chairwoman: State Board of Elections lacks authority
http://www2.timesdispatch.com/news/2010/jun/24/SBES24-ar-229860/
The State Board of Elections is “a paper lion” that has little authority to enforce election laws.
WA: Washington State Wins Doe v Reed
U.S. Supreme Court Says, Usually, States are Free to Release Names and Addresses of Petition Signers for Public Viewing
http://www.ballot-access.org/2010/06/24/washington-state-wins-doe-v-reed/
On June 24, the U.S. Supreme Court released an opinion in Doe v Reed, holding that disclosure of the names and addresses of petition signers does not violate the U.S. Constitution.
WA: (Rick Hasen) INITIAL THOUGHTS ON DOE V. REED
http://electionlawblog.org/archives/016266.html
I have now had a chance to read the decision in Doe v. Reed. In broad brush strokes, the Court did what I predicted they would do: a broad majority voted that disclosure of the names of the signers of referendum petitions is generally constitutional, leaving open the possibility of an as-applied challenge should plaintiffs be able to prove on remand that they faced a realistic threat of harassment in this particular case if their names are disclosed.
WV: Election probe: Feds visit post office
http://www.lincolnjournalinc.com/print_this_story.asp?smenu=1&sdetail=5281
“Confirming rumors that had spread throughout the county a few weeks ago, reliable sources have told The Lincoln Journal that the investigation into the May 11 Democrat primary has reached as far as the local post office.
In the days leading up to the primary, sources told The Journal that absentee ballots and/or absentee ballot applications had been found in an area postal facility.”
National
DISCLOSE Act Passes The House Today-Keep Up The Pressure
http://protectourelections.org/node/14
MORE ON DISCLOSE’S FUTURE
http://electionlawblog.org/archives/016269.html “I think the chances that it would be challenged [in court] would be 100 percent,” said Rick Hasen, a professor at Loyola Law School in Los Angeles and the author of the Election Law Blog,
Postal Pointers: Military Absentee Ballot Mail
http://www.northfortmyersneighbor.com/page/content.detail/id/506362/Postal-Pointers–Military-Absentee-Ballot-Mail.html?nav=5162
This year, military personnel and overseas voters with APO/FPO addresses can return absentee ballots using a new Express Mail Label 11DOD.
…
Express Mail Label 11DOD will allow military personnel stationed abroad to track their vote all the way to the county or parrish election office, and also generate new revenue for the Postal Service.
WAS SG KAGAN “GLEEFUL” IN WRITING OF A SOFT MONEY BAN: “AFFECTS REPUBS, NOT DEMS!”?
http://electionlawblog.org/archives/016265.html
Internet Vote Watch:
Why can’t I vote at my ATM? Hansard Society Debate
http://www.jasonkitcat.com/2010/06/vote-atm-hansard-society-debate/
If you’ve heard the complaints from the music and movie industries over recent years, then you’ll know that computers are good at copying. With electronic voting we risk undetectable ballot stuffing on a massive scale.
Open-source voting technology is the cure for what ails democracy
http://www.networkworld.com/community/blog/open-source-voting-technology-cure-what-ails-#comment-252736 (emailing voted ballots)
District of Columbia’s Board of Elections and Ethics Adopts Open Source Digital Voting Foundation Technology to Support Ballot Delivery
http://www.businesswire.com/portal/site/home/permalink/?ndmViewId=news_view&newsId=20100622006238&newsLang=en
FBI Warning: DOS attacks on phones
http://www.fbi.gov/page2/june10/phone_062110.html
THE LATEST PHONE SCAM Targets Your Bank Account
[Oh, let’s go vote by phone- NOT]
Legal Aid Foundation Files Comments Opposing NLRB “Electronic Voting” Scheme for Union Organizing Drives
http://www.nrtw.org/en/press/2010/06/legal-aid-foundation-files-comments–
“Much like card check organizing, electronic voting leaves the door open to coercion and identity theft, and will be used by aggressive union organizers to impose forced unionism on more workers.”
Voting News by Joyce McCloy.Archives here at http://votingnews.blogspot.com/
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